Government Insurance Office of New South Wales v Alan Jamison

The Government Insurance Office of New South Wales (GIO) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the District Court of New South Wales concerning a claim for damages for personal injuries brought by Alan Jamison. Mr Jamison had suffered injuries in a motor vehicle accident and sought to recover damages from GIO, which was the compulsory third-party insurer of the vehicle involved.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether Mr Jamison's claim was barred by the provisions of section 151D of the *Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act 1942* (NSW) (the Act). This section stipulated that a claim for damages for personal injury arising out of the use of a motor vehicle would be dismissed if the claimant had been convicted of an offence under section 52A of the *Crimes Act 1900* (NSW) in relation to the same accident. The court was required to determine if Mr Jamison's prior conviction under section 52A for driving under the influence of alcohol in relation to the accident precluded his civil claim for damages.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Kirby P, Samuels JA, and Meagher JA, considered the legislative intent behind section 151D. The court reasoned that the purpose of the provision was to prevent individuals who had committed serious criminal offences related to driving from profiting from their own wrongdoing by recovering damages for injuries sustained in the same incident. The court found that Mr Jamison had indeed been convicted under section 52A of the *Crimes Act* for the accident in question. Therefore, the court concluded that section 151D of the Act applied to his claim.

The appeal was allowed, and the decision of the District Court was set aside. The court ordered that Mr Jamison's claim for damages be dismissed.